For many people, the thought of undergoing surgery is very scary. If you’re considering plastic surgery, it’s important that you’re aware of both the benefits and the risks. Here are some of the most common and most talked about cosmetic surgery complications.

Hematoma is a pocket of blood that resembles a large, painful bruise. It occurs in 1 percent of breast augmentation procedures. It’s also the most common complication after a facelift, occurring in an average of 1 percent of patients. It occurs more commonly in males than females.

Hematoma is a risk in nearly all surgeries. Treatment sometimes includes additional operations to drain the blood if the collection of blood is large or growing rapidly. This may require another procedure in the operating room and sometimes additional anesthetic.

Seroma is a condition that occurs when serum, or sterile body fluid, pools beneath the surface of the skin, resulting in swelling and sometimes pain. This can occur after any surgery, and it’s the most common complication following a tummy tuck, occurring in 15 to 30 percent of patients.

Because seromas can become infected, they’re often drained with a needle. This effectively removes them, although there’s a chance of recurrence.

The potential for nerve damage is present in many different types of surgical procedures. Numbness and tingling are common after plastic surgery and can be signs of nerve damage. Most often the nerve damage is temporary, but in some cases it can be permanent.

Most women experience a change in sensitivity after breast augmentation surgery, and 15 percent experience permanent changes in nipple sensation.

These complications are relatively uncommon, affecting only 0.09 percent of all patients undergoing plastic surgery. However, these clots can be fatal.

Abdominoplasty procedures have a slightly higher rate of DVT and PE, affecting just under 1 percent of patients. The risk of clots is 5 times higher for people having multiple procedures than it is for people having only one procedure.

Most people are satisfied with their postoperative outcomes, and research suggests most women are satisfied with breast augmentation surgery. But disappointment with the results is a real possibility. People who undergo breast surgery may experience contouring or asymmetry problems, while those undergoing facial surgeries could simply not like the result.

Anesthesia is the use of medication to make you unconscious. It allows patients to undergo surgery without feeling the procedure.

General anesthesia can sometimes lead to complications. These include lung infections, stroke, heart attacks, and death. Anesthesia awareness, or waking up in the middle of surgery, is very rare but also possible.